Veran Matić: This country is against professional journalists and professional media (VIDEO)

Guesting on the show 3D - A New Dimension of the Day, Veran Matić warns that attacks on journalists in Serbia have reached an intensity that reminds one of the hunt against Slavko Ćuruvija. Matić explains that the attacks on him are nothing new, as they have been ongoing for decades.

"I was first monitored in '87; I confirmed this when I looked at my dossier in 2001, and since then, I have been under the regime of the State Security and what was subsequently inherited by the BIA and so on," said Matić, adding that the difference compared to the previous regime may lie in the techniques, but not in the narrative.

The accusations, he says, are completely identical – foreign agent, mercenary, embezzlement of funds.

What is different now is the intensity of the attacks, thanks to powerful social media and control of national television stations.

"Today we have much more powerful social media, three national, two national television stations, and one also on the rise, and when you are bombarded with such strength, it is certainly much more intense and much stronger. What I see is that these attacks do not cease. They are now spreading through various websites and different social media platforms. They promised today that they will continue this series," said Matić.

"It is completely clear where the attacks are coming from"

Matić evaluates that these attacks are a 'direct call for lynching' and compares them to the campaign that preceded the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija.

"I believe this is a direct call for lynching, not an indirect one. I think this is a completely identical situation to the time of the witch hunt against Slavko Ćuruvija. I believe that the intensity of the attacks and accusations, particularly regarding foreign mercenaries... And here, they say I am to blame for all the wars that occurred here and for everything that the Serbs have experienced," said Matić.

He warns that the broadcasts in which he was attacked were preceded by attacks on KRIK, CRTU, and a number of individuals.

"A kind of Center for Social Stability has been created, which, as Vedran said in his text, seems Orwellian. They are there to monitor who is disturbing the peace, and they will bring order and identify who is disrupting this order. And all of this comes from the top of the state, namely from the president of this country and those who are his representatives in the position of Speaker of the Assembly or in the government," explained Matić, adding that it is completely clear where the attacks are coming from and that there is no need to seek some kind of enigma.

He says there are several reasons why he has become a target.

"Our colleague Vuk Cvijić is among the most exposed because he is someone who literally publishes some kind of exclusives exposing crime at the top of the government every two or three days. And there is a whole range of journalists who are, therefore, in a more dangerous situation than I am. I communicate this and document it to international organizations and I am there with them every day, trying to find a way to protect them," said Matić.

He believes he is also a target because this is an attempt to cut off journalists and editorial offices from those who seek to protect them and who are credible in this job.

He also states that it is necessary to find the culprit for the state's failure to establish the REM Council.

"It is said 'Veran does not allow it', as if everyone would like to, but I do not allow it. And that is immediately Cluster 3, opening Cluster 3. Thus, it will fall back on me again, and not on the state that has not fulfilled all that it committed to. Again, we return to the fact that civil society, including myself, is accused of something that the state has committed," explained Matić.

Another reason for the attacks is his international communications and the reputation he has built over decades.

Systematic Weakening of the Media

Matić points out that the journalistic profession has been institutionally weakened and that there are fewer media outlets, which are also getting weaker, with diminishing capacities.

He particularly emphasizes the "perversion" of the project co-financing system that is supposed to support professional media.

"For more than two or three years, the project co-financing system, that is, more than 15 million euros a year, has absolutely no longer reached those media that report professionally. Rather, quite the opposite, which is perverse, it goes to those who most violate the journalistic code. In fact, respecting the decisions of the Press Council and the journalistic code is a prerequisite for even applying for project co-financing," said Matić.

He added that media and journalists have become impoverished and greatly weakened, and that during 2024, the police began to obstruct all topics related to journalists' safety.

"That year, the number of resolved cases by the police suddenly decreased. Thus, the police began to obstruct practically all these topics related to journalists' safety already in 2024. According to that statistic, 62 cases were opened. In 34 cases at the end of the year, the prosecutor's offices did not receive the necessary information from the police," noted Matić, adding that from that moment it became completely clear that this obstruction would spread.

The trend continued into 2025, when, as he says, the police were protecting the aggressors rather than shielding journalists, and in the latter part of the year, members of the Ministry of Interior even beat journalists.

"The State Security has never been dismantled"

Matić points to the continuity of repressive structures from the nineties to today.

"The State Security of the nineties has never been dismantled. The only thing that has changed are the people at the top of the State Security itself. It has never been practically transformed. Those people have remained in the system or in a parasystem, either in institutions or in the ruling party or close to the ruling party," said Matić.

As evidence for these claims, Matić cites his experience from the court process regarding the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija, to which he devoted ten years of his life.

"Nothing related to the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija would have been uncovered if we had not established the Commission and if we journalists had not gotten involved. Thus, I have practically tied ten years of my life to this case, and we brought it to an indictment, to a trial that lasted 9 years," said Matić, adding that as long as the process lasted, they faced constant obstruction from members of the State Security – whether at the trial itself, through pressures on witnesses, or through influence on judges.

He also recalls other cases of political murders from the nineties, none of which have been resolved.

"There were many political murders in the nineties, none of which have been resolved. Both the Minister of Defense and people from the top of the police. Interestingly, nothing was initiated after the changes of October 5, and since nothing has happened, it is obviously the result of a cover-up, as all these murders came from the same team, the same crew," said Matić.

"I must just say this definition. This state is against professional journalists and professional media. Thus, we have as a state an opponent. And we must define this situation we are in now accordingly. We cannot rely on anyone in the current situation to help us," said Matić.

He emphasizes the importance of solidarity at all levels – inter-journalist solidarity, solidarity with civil society organizations, and with all citizens of this country who are also endangered.

"I mean, we cannot now expect that there will appear... As you know, I was under police protection 24 hours a day for five or six years. I never felt safe. I never felt secure. Thus, it provided me with no real security," said Matić.

He adds that the authorities are "so tied to everything they have done so far, for money and accumulated power and wealth," that they are aware that leaving power presents significant problems for all those who, as he says, have abused, plundered, and destroyed this country.

Source: Insajder